Ali Bobrow is a single parent with a fraught nine-year-old daughter, a malevolent ex with a grabby new wife, and an underused artistic talent. A pushover when it comes to needy neighbours and uninvited children, she allows her house to be the local drop-in centre, until she collides with Noah Glazer.

A solid man of science, Noah walks into Ali s life bringing good sense, order and security. But ten years on, Ali is drawn back into the complexities of her past: an old lover, two ex-spouses, a colleague from clown school and a small smuggled cat all help to rock the boat.
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The plot s interplay of flashbacks and digressions, which prompt bright dialogue and dark complications, recalls Matisse s line and palette. Some sentences can be relished in isolation, like fine brushwork – New Yorker